eMarketer: Global social network users exceeded 1.4 billion in 2012

The latest data from market research firm eMarketer shows that in 2012, more than 1.4 billion people worldwide used social networks, an increase of 19% over 2011, and the number of Facebook users in the Asia-Pacific region has exceeded that in the United States.

In some regions, social network usage is very predictable; in others, it is more variable. Although Facebook has a large number of users, not all social network users are "into love" it - in several major markets, local social networks are still popular.

India and Indonesia, two countries with more than 50% growth in social network users in 2012, are becoming fast-growing new centers of social network use, and using mobile phones to log in to social networks has become a major trend. At the same time, Facebook's growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region is so fast that the number of Facebook users in this region exceeded that of the United States for the first time in 2012.

In more mature markets, marketers are looking to use social media to reach fans with content that is relevant to them. Social networks allow companies to advertise promotions and product recommendations to a wider network of users in real time, with enhanced targeting to geographic locations and mobile users.